Photographing Cars

[innershell]

Photographing cars is hard for me because I don't know if I should follow all the rules of photography (i.e. rule of thirds). Same say cars should be shot in full or never shot at all. But I do feel the partial shot of cars work really well too. Tell me what you think of my composition. What other compositions would you recommend for cars?

P.S. All these pictures were severely over-exposed, so I had to fix it in Photoshop. I think I did a decent job recovering the bad pics.

[matthewchj]

It should probably be okay to crop off some portion of the car, showing only the side, front, etc. if you wish to do so.

One thing I find works best with cars is to shoot them from a low angle, with your camera on the road.

[innershell]

Now with that last cropped picture, should I crop out the dead space to the left too? There were over 200 pictures taken, most of them about 6" off the ground. So I agree that low shots work well.

[Taallyn]

Your first photo looks more like a model than an actual car to me for some reason. The second one is a tad soft. None of the car has a good focus on it that I can see. That might have been what you were trying to do though. The third one is sharp, but the left space is kind of distracting. I think I would try a crop just to see if it helps the composition.

As compositions in general, I think it depends on what you are trying to show and draw attention to on the car/with the car. There could well be times that a higher angle is more appropriate; for example composing a shot to see inside the cabin when the T-tops are removed.

[innershell]

Wow, you're right. THe first photo makes it look more like a model than an actual car. That's cool. :-)

Thanks for the feedback.

[jiminyClickit]

innershell, Welcome

The 'Rules' for this Critique Forum

Drew84, Welcome

Feel free to start your own thread. You aren't critiquing innershell by posting your own shots here: it's called "hijacking" and while it may be OK with innershell, I think it's an unwise practice. Each person deserves their own spot.

[clockdoc]

Hi innershell and welcome to the group. Photographing cars well can be a challenge as you have already experienced. If you look at the major car company shots, not only are they trying to show the car off to its best but they are also trying to sell the "sizzle" of owning that particular car. In doing so note the locations they use and the time of day. Many successful ad shots are done late in the day. Reflections can also be a problem. Occasionally a polarizer will help. Showing features as a closeup is also useful, but they need to be sharp. Study the major ads and try to copy what appeals to you. Next time, please post some camera/lens details and EXIF data such as ISO, f/stop, shutterspeed and focal length. It would also help greatly if you could use flickr so as to have the images within the critique page instead of having to go back and forth using a hyperlink. It's a little more work on your part but will help us immensely. Thanks for sharing your work with us.

[ChrisRidley]

I like to use a fair bit of cropping in my shots - I much prefer it to full length style shots, I like to pic out small details, colours and shapes.

Have a look at some of my pics here:
http://www.11thstudio.com/hot-rod-car-photography.php